A borough-wide system for cashless parking payments in Calderdale will be introduced from early November.
Cashless payment options are available across all pay and display on-street spaces and car parks in the borough, with Halifax town centre spaces currently using a system called AppyParking and the rest of the borough using APCOA Connect.
The two-year initial trial with AppyParking is now coming to an end. To simplify the parking process from both a customer and operational point of view, the Council has made the decision to continue with just one cashless provider across the borough and this will be APCOA Connect.
APCOA Connect allows payments to be made using a mobile app, similarly to AppyParking, and still allows payment periods to be extended remotely, although it does not use the sensor technology to show real-time availability or to start a parking session by connecting to a sensor. The APCOA Connect system does however have the additional benefit of the option of payments being made over the telephone.
Users are required to enter a unique location code which will be displayed on sides of the pay and display ticket machine. They will select the length of time they want to park and then pay using a credit or debit card. A convenience fee will still apply, but borough-wide use of this system has allowed this to be reduced to 8p per transaction (currently either 15p or 30p depending on system used).
Clear signage and instructions on how to use the cashless payment system will be provided on pay and display machines.
Those wishing to pay with cash will still be able to do so, and blue badge and permit holders are unaffected by these changes and should continue to display their permits/badge.
Calderdale Council’s Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Strategy, Cllr Jane Scullion, said:
“Unsurprisingly, we’ve seen the use of contactless card payments for our parking becoming increasingly popular. Since November 2019, there has been a 75% increase in the number of cashless transactions and there’s no sign of this changing any time soon, as people use cash options less frequently.
“As our trial with AppyParking is coming to an end, we need to make a decision about how we continue to offer cashless options. To make the process simpler and consistent across the borough, we’ve decided to extend the use of APCOA Connect parking to include Halifax town centre, meaning there’s just one system in place right across the borough.
“Traditional cash payments will still be accepted at our machines, but we know that people want to have the flexibility to pay in different ways. The cashless option also allows the duration of parking to be extended remotely, allowing people to enjoy the borough at their leisure.”
The system will switchover to APCOA on the weekend of 6 and 7 November, details will available on pay and display machines. The APCOA Connect parking app is available for both IOS and Android from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store.